The One With the Thirtysomethings
by Pie for President '16
Summary: The six friends, and Mike, begin a new chapter of their lives. For Phoebe and Mike, a baby may not be too far away. Joey gets offered a role on a TV show. Monica and Chandler adjust to parenthood. Ross and Rachel make up for the seven lost years.
1. TOA the Finale

This is my post-finale FRIENDS fanfic. It will not be in script format, like the other post-finale fics I've seen. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written!

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_I am so happy for my two best friends; I can't believe they're parents now! Well, I can believe that Monica is a mother, she's wanted children forever! But Chandler is a father, that's just madness! I know he's going to be a great father, though; he definitely has it in him! He's not going to abandon Jack and Erica or sleep with the houseboy. He's actually going to be there for his children. This truly means all of us are grown up: Monica and Chandler are parents, plus they'll be moving out of the city tomorrow and into the suburbs; Ross and Rachel finally got over themselves and are together again, they're probably making up for the seven lost years right now; Mike got his head on straight, married me, and we're even talking about having kids! He brought it up earlier; at first, I thought he just mentioned it because it was just minutes after Monica and Chandler arrived with the babies, so it only made sense for him to say it then. But then Mike brought it up again when we came home from having coffee. I'm writing in this journal to postpone the baby-making, I guess. Poor Mike, his wife is depriving him of sex! What an evil witch I am, right? But seriously, I'm a bit nervous about this? What if we conceive tonight? This means I'll only have nine months to get ready to be a mom! What if I'm a crappy mom? I don't want to be like my own mother, the one that raised me for fourteen years. The last thing I want to do is kill myself so my twin daughters are alone in the city. That's just all kinds of selfish, you know?_

I look over the latest journal entry, knowing that I had said everything on my mind. The only thing left to do now was talk to Mike about having babies. I want to have kids, but I'm just totally freaked out about it. I love Mike, and I hope we're together many, many, many more years, and we'll get to watch our children grow up and have kids of their own. I know we will, I have a good feeling about this.

"Phoebe, what are you doing?" Mike's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Um, just writing." I quickly hide the journal in the desk drawer and turn around to face my husband, who's looking at me worriedly.

"We don't have to do this tonight, Pheebs." Mike walks over to me and kneels down, taking my hand in his.

"No, I want to." I say, but there's a hint of hesitation in my voice and Mike doesn't miss it.

"But…?" He waits patiently for me to continue; I let out a sigh and look into his eyes.

"I'm just scared, Mike. What if we conceive tonight? It means I'll only have nine months to prepare to be a mom. I really want to be one, but I just don't feel ready for it. I don't want to mess this up; the last thing I want is to be the world's worst mom."

"Phoebe," Mike says quietly and squeezes my hand. "I'm scared too and I'm worried about messing our kid up. But you know what? It's a learning process and we'll just take it one day at a time, and nine months is plenty of time for us to prepare to be parents. We have four great friends, all of whom just happen to be parents. You know they'll be happy to help us out. We're going to be just fine, Phoebe."

I let out a sigh and slowly nod, he's right. I know he's right and I hate that he's always right. Mike smiles and stands up, pulling me from my sitting position at the desk. We walk towards the bedroom, hand in hand. Once we're in there, with the door closed behind us, Mike leans down and places a kiss on my lips. This kiss wasn't like all those other ones, there's an actual meaning behind this kiss and I return it just as meaningfully. We quickly shed our clothes, throw back the covers, and jump into bed. We're almost ready to begin our baby-making when I break the kiss, breathing heavily.

"We're actually going to do this, Mike." I look deep into his eyes, which are dark blue with lust at this moment. Mike lets out a laugh, the sound all husky.

"We are. You ready?"

I bite my lips and nod, pulling him in for another kiss. It's over in fifteen minutes and I find myself snuggling up against his sweaty body. With any other man, this would totally turn me off and make me nauseous. But this is Mike we're talking about here, I promised to love him for better or worse, and the worse includes when he's sweating with post-coital bliss.

"Do you think we did it, Pheebs?" Mike asks, burying his face into the crook of my neck and began biting gently.

I think for a minute, really trying to concentrate. There's no sensation in my uterus or fallopian tubes, but it's too soon to tell. We did have sex just twenty minutes ago; my body may be faster than the women in the Western world, but not _that_ fast.

"I can't tell yet, do you want to try again."

"I'm exhausted. We can try again tomorrow, let's just sleep now." Mike whispers, pulling away from my neck. He places one last kiss on my lips before wrapping his arm across my stomach.

"You, too exhausted to have _sex_?"

"Hey, I just gave you my best, all right?"

"All right, fair enough." I turn so I'm facing him and snuggle closer, if that's even possible. We sleep like this through the night and I'm woken by a knocking on the apartment door early the next morning.

"Ugh!" I groan, stirring and looked at the clock on the nightstand; it read quarter past seven in the morning. Who is knocking on my door at seven in the _morning_? Oh, they are going to be in some _serious_ trouble after I find my clothes!

I pull back the sheets and gather my pajamas, hurriedly getting dressed. Once I make sure I look decent, I leave the bedroom to find Mike making a cup of coffee and Joey sitting on the couch, eating a muffin. I let out a sigh; I can't believe my _idiot_ of a husband let him in! Just because Monica and Chandler are moving today, and Rachel and Ross are having an extramarital honeymoon, does _not_ mean Joey gets to barge into my house! Oh, my God. We have _got_ to move, and soon!

"Oh, hey, Joey!" I put on my chipper voice, but my eyes are sending the glare of death towards Mike. "What are you doing here?"

"I tried going over to Ross' apartment, but I didn't get an answer. I had nowhere else to go, so I thought I'd come over here. I hope that's all right with you, Pheebs."

I open my mouth to make a snarky reply, but Mike cuts me off.

"It's not a problem with us, Joey. You're welcomed to come over any time."

I send another glare of death towards my husband, but he just shrugs and turns away.

"Great, thanks! Hey, Mike, can you make me some breakfast?"

"Of course, what would you like?"

I let out a scoff that goes unnoticed by Mike and Joey, walking back to the bedroom to change. I _know_ Ross is home and so is Rachel. Since she's back with Ross now, she'd be in his apartment. I'm almost positive Monica and Chandler are there as well; they had nowhere to go last night, and I know Monica didn't want to bring Jack and Erica to her parents' or to a hotel. I grab my purse, which is sitting on the desk, and walk out. I hurry towards the door, hoping to sneak out, but Mike stops me as I'm about to open it. _Damn it, so close, Pheebs_!

"Phoebe, where are you going? I was just about to make breakfast for Joey and I can make yours next if you want."

"No, that's fine. I just remembered I have to run an errand. I'll be back in a couple hours." I lie, hoping Mike would buy it.

"Don't forget, we're going over to Ross' to say goodbye to Chandler and Monica after lunch."

"Yeah, I won't forget." I walk out of the apartment and slam the door shut behind me. I hurry down the steps and hail a cab. Ross is certainly going to get an earful from me, doesn't he know any better by now?

I pay the cab driver, rush into the building, and go up the two flights of stairs. I hurry down the hallway, almost out of breath at this point, and begin pounding on the door of Ross' apartment.

"Nobody's home! Go away!" I can hear Ross' voice shout, I roll my eyes and continue pounding at the door.

"It's me, Phoebe. Let me in, _now_!"

A few seconds later, the door opens and Rachel appears in front of me with Emma in her arms. _Wait, wasn't Emma staying with Rachel's mom_?

"Pheebs! It's great to see you!" Rachel's voice is all high and squeaky. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, yeah." I ignore the greeting and question, walking past Rachel and into the apartment. I turn around to face her, crossing my arms.

"Are Monica and Chandler here?"

"They're just in the bedroom putting the babies to sleep, they did _not_ sleep well last night. What's going on?" Rachel shuts the door and puts Emma down; the toddler runs to her toys in the corner of the room, but I keep my eyes fixed on Rachel.

"What's going on, Rachel Karen Green, is that Joey came over to my apartment at seven this morning! I will _not_ stand for this! Monica and Chandler may have, and I _used to_, but not anymore. It's _my_ home and I don't want random people walking in and out all the time!"

Rachel looks taken aback, but I refuse to back down.

"But- but Pheebs, Joey isn't random people. He's been your friend for eleven years!"

"Oh, what do you know? You've never had him walking in and out of your home all the time."

"Yeah, I did, for six years and then I lived with him for two years. I know what it's like, but I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Did he walk in on you and Mike having sex?" Rachel whispers the last word; she clearly didn't want Emma to hear it.

"No. But, you know, Mike and I are trying."

"Trying?" Rachel looks at me, confused.

"We want to have kids, but I can't do that when Mike lets people into our home and then I get angry at him for doing that! I'm thirty-six, Rach; my ovaries are getting pretty old! I don't have much time left for kids, and I can't have sex with my husband when I'm pissed off at him!" My voice gets louder with each word, and I can see Emma running towards the kitchen where, I assume, Ross is. Then I hear crying coming from one of the bedrooms.

"Look at what you've done!" Monica cries, stepping out of the bedroom, but she stops short when she sees me. I notice she looks more tired than she usually does, she isn't wearing any make-up and her shirt has a stain on it.

"Oh, Phoebe." She says, walking towards us. "What are you doing here? Why are you shouting? You _do_ realize we have day old twins in the other room."

"Yes, I'm sorry." I throw up my hands and let out a sigh. "I just don't understand why he has to be with any of us."

"Phoebe," Rachel begins, leading me over to the couch and we take a seat. "You're going to have to put your foot down. If Mike is letting Joey in when you don't want him there, then you have to tell your husband; he isn't a mind-reader."

"You know what? I'm going to call Mike right now and ask him to come over." Monica says, picking up the phone and began dialing.

"Oh, Mon, you don't have to do that." But Monica looks at me dangerously and I realize I have woken the beast within.

"If it gets you to stop yelling, I _have_ to do it." Monica says, putting the phone to her ear. "Hey, Mike, it's Monica. Yeah, she's here and she's pretty upset, but not as upset as me because she woke Erica up! Yes, could you, please? Oh, you are? Great, I'll tell her." Monica hung up and placed the phone back on the receiver.

"Mike's on his way over. He should be here any second, actually."

As if on cue, there's a knock on the door and Monica hurries over to answer it. Mike steps in and walks towards me, handing me a bouquet of flowers.

"I felt really bad about upsetting you, so I got you flowers."

I can't help but smile at this gesture, he certainly does have his ways.

"It's no big deal." I try to shrug it off.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Monica screeches, "When you get all worked up like that, Phoebe—"

"All right, don't you have a baby to look after?" I interrupt before she could get all venty.

Monica let out an annoyed huff and walks back to the bedroom. Rachel quietly excuses herself, going into the kitchen. Mike sits down on the couch and takes my free hand, looking deeply into my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe." He says quietly. "I should have known better than to let Joey into _your_ apartment without talking to you first. Now that Monica and Chandler are moving, Rachel's back with Ross and they have Emma, which just leaves the two of us without children. We've been so caught up in one another that we didn't realize we were leaving Joey behind. But that'll probably have to stop soon, we're going to be parents and I don't want my children to take after him."

"Oh, Mike." I give him a gentle kiss on the cheek and squeeze his hand.

"I love you and it's really more my fault. Joey and I have always been close, and it's going to change because we _are_ going to have kids soon. But you know what, Mike? I don't want to abandon him, he doesn't have any other close friends."

Mike lets go of my hand and shifts uncomfortably, not looking at me. There's something else, there _has_ to be something else. _Oh, my God… he's not dying, is he?_

"Actually, Pheebs, he came over to make an announcement and I think your friends should come out so I can say it with all of you here." Mike says, looking towards the kitchen and bedroom doors. Rachel, who's holding Emma once again, Ross, Chandler, and Monica step out into the living room and surround us.

"Well," Mike began, looking at us. "After we had coffee yesterday, Joey got a call from the producers of _Days of our Lives_, and they're working on a Drake Ramoray spin-off, called _Nurses_. They're still waiting to hear if the network will pick it up, but the producers have a good feeling about this. The thing is, the show is going to be filmed in Los Angeles and, if it does get picked up, filming will begin in October. It's going to be a mid-season replacement."

"Oh, my goodness!"

"That's great!"

"I am so happy for Joey!"

"That's amazing!"

Mike looks at me and I begin to feel overwhelmed with guilt. I look at my best friends, and I know they're beginning to think the same thing I am. We all completely blew him off because we were preoccupied with our families or the family we're trying to make, and now he's going across the country to become a big star."

"I feel _terrible_!" I cry, burying my face in my hands.

"I can't believe he wanted to tell us his big news, and we pretended we weren't home!" Rachel cried, sitting down on the vacant seat with Emma in her lap.

"We have to call him." Ross says and picks up the phone. The five of us wait as Ross makes the call.

"Joey, it's me. Please come over. Yes, I am home." There was a pause, and Ross let out a sigh. "I know, and I'm so sorry, Joey. Yeah, Mike just told us, so will you _please_ come over so we can congratulate you? All right, see you soon."

"Was he angry?" Rachel asks.

"A little."

"Maybe you should make him something to eat, I was going to make him breakfast but he got really upset after he broke the news to me. He thought you guys were abandoning him."

"I'll make something." Monica volunteered, walking into the kitchen to prepare Joey's breakfast.

For the first time in what seems like _forever_, there was an awkward silence surrounding us. It was broken occasionally by Emma talking gibberish.

"I feel terrible." Ross said, sitting on the arm of the couch. There was a knock on the door and he hurried to answer it; Joey was standing in the hallway, not moving. He avoided looking at any of us.

"Joey, we're so sorry." Rachel said, standing up and walking towards him. Joey looks right at me and I could see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Joey. I shouldn't have done that. Please, come in." Ross opens the door further for him, and Joey steps inside the apartment.

"Congratulations." Rachel put Emma down and gives him a hug. The rest of us soon surrounded him and took turns hugging him.

"This is amazing, man." Chandler claps Joey on the back.

"You're really doing this?" Ross asks.

"Yeah, I am. I figured you guys don't need me here, so why should I stay? You have your families now." He looks at Ross and Rachel before looking at Chandler.

"And you're going to have a family soon." He looks at Mike and I.

"Joey, promise us one thing." Rachel says. "Please don't forget us."

"I couldn't forget any of you."

Monica comes out of the kitchen with a plate of eggs, toast, and sausage.

"Here you go, Joey; a congratulatory breakfast."

Now the tension has been broken, we all begin to have a lively conversation. I can't believe this may be one of the last times the seven of us hang out together like this. We really are grown up.

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I don't know anything about Joey but what I've read on FRIENDS Wikia. Well, I know the basic plot of season one and two. I know Joey was offered a role on a TV show called _Nurses_, whichhe accepts in this fic, and that he has a love interest named Alex. Phoebe does seem a bit OOC in this chapter, but she is focused on her husband and their yet-to-be-conceived child, so it only makes sense for her to be a bit self-centered.


	2. TOW the First Weekend

This chapter is less than half the length of the first one, but the following chapters will be longer... I promise! I just wanted to show Ross/Rachel and Monica/Chandler on that first weekend after the finale. 

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Ross Geller couldn't believe this; it had to be a dream. None of this was really happening and Rachel was actually four thousand miles away in Paris. He kept waiting for the moment when he would wake up in bed alone. But it never came, two days and two nights have come and gone, and Rachel was still here. She was in his arms, with the sheets tangled between them, their body glistening with post-coital sweat. How many times have they had sex in the past fifty hours?

Rachel let out a sigh, bringing Ross back to the present. He looked at her and gave her sweaty forehead a kiss, savoring the faint scent of her shampoo. _Damn, that shower this morning was amazing_!

"You've definitely made some improvement in the past few years, Ross Geller." Rachel said quietly, running her hand up his arm. Ross let out a soft chuckle, placing his hand over hers and giving it a kiss.

"Well, we'd been broken up for seven years and you sacrificed Paris for me. It's only fair that I give you the best and more, Rachel Green."

"I could do this forever." She whispered, repositioning her body. She gave him a sensuous kiss on the lips and Ross let out a soft growl, returning the kiss. He flipped her onto her back and hovered over her, feeling her heat against his dying arousal. Ross took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers.

"I keep thinking this is all a dream." Rachel said, wrapping her arms around Ross' waist. "I keep expecting to wake up in Paris, alone."

"You aren't alone, Rach. All of this seems so surreal, I never thought we could happen again."

"I didn't think it would either, but you came to the airport. I knew I had punished you enough, Ross. We have a daughter and it would've been too cruel to keep her on a whole other continent, four thousand miles away from you. I want to be a family, Ross. I've wanted to for _years_ now, but..." Rachel trailed off.

"We just never had good timing." Ross finished for her.

"But all of that is in the past now, we're here. We're finally together." Rachel smiled.

"As much as I want to keep celebrating our reunion, I'm ready for bed." Ross gave Rachel one last kiss before rolling off of her. He moved close to her, her back against his chest, and placed his arm around her waist.

"Oh, thank God." Rachel laughed, placing her hand over Ross'. "I knew it was going to be said at some point, but I didn't want to be the one to say it. I won't lie, the past two days have been _amazing_, but I'm ready to sleep."

"We have the rest of our lives in front of us, Rach." Ross said quietly, kissing her hair before resting his head back on the pillow. No matter what happened between them now, there was no way Ross was going to screw things up. He had a daughter now, and he had to think about her. He didn't want Emma being raised by parents who hated one another and who couldn't stand to be in the same room, like Rachel's own parents.

Monica Geller-Bing watched her sleeping infants with admiration and fascination. She couldn't believe that they were actually hers! Well, her and Chandler's children. Monica had been silently thanking Erica for choosing her and Chandler to be the parents of her babies. Even though they were only expecting one, they got two children instead and that was even better. They were now three days old and sleeping soundly in their new home. Monica and Chandler had everything moved in by noon the previous day, and it had been exhausting.

Monica knew she should be catching up on her lost sleep, but it was hard to step away from Jack and Erica. She didn't know what it was, but there was something in the back of her mind that was nagging her constantly when it came to the babies. It was as if it was trying to tell her something would go wrong or one of the babies would get sick. Erica had only been expecting one baby, and therefore been caring for one fetus throughout her pregnancy. Jack and Erica were healthy when they were born, their vital signs said they could go home that very same day, they were in the eightieth percentile for twins at birth. So, there wasn't really anything to worry about, right?

"Hey," Chandler whispered quietly, wrapping his arms around her. "You coming to bed?"

Monica nodded, turning around so she was facing her husband.

"I was just thinking how this all seems so unreal. These babies are _ours_, Chandler. _We_ were chosen to raise them, to love them, to care for them, and more, for the next eighteen years."

"I know, we're parents. _Us_. It's crazy." Chandler laughed quietly and kissed Monica on her forehead, looking at the babies in their cribs.

"I just-" Monica blurted out without thinking. She bit her tongue, hoping Chandler hadn't heard her.

"You just what, Mon?"

Monica let out a sigh and pulled away.

"I'm scared of being a screw-up. I've been ready to be someone's mother forever, but now it's here and I have absolutely no idea what to do. I've taken care of Ben and Emma, but they're my nephew and niece. I'm not the one who takes them home at the end of the day. Carol, Susan, Ross, and Rachel are the ones raising them."

"You're going to make a wonderful mother, Monica. I know that; it's me I'm worried about. I didn't have such a great father figure; I don't know the first thing about being a dad. I'm terrified, what if I screw Jack and Erica up? You would never forgive me if I did that, and I want to make you proud. I want to be the world's best father."

"Oh, Chandler." Monica placed her hands on his shoulders. "You are already an excellent father and I know you won't screw our children up. I have no worries about you, I know you're going to be just fine. You don't need any guidance, everything will just come to you."

"Thanks, Monica, that's really helpful." Chandler said sincerely. "And you'll be the world's best mother." He added, giving Monica a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Come on, let's get some sleep. We've got eighteen years ahead of us, we better make use out of the hours they're not awake."

"Oh, God, can you imagine a teenaged Jack and Erica? If they're anything like their mother-" Chandler began, but Monica placed her finger over his mouth, quieting him.

"Chandler, let's not think that far ahead yet. " She said, taking her husband's hand and guiding him out of the twins' room.

"I love you, Monica. I couldn't have asked for a better family than this."

"I love you too, and I couldn't have asked for a better family either."

Monica followed Chandler into their bedroom and got into bed. As she snuggled up against him, she knew they would be fine. They just had to take it one day at a time and they'd already overcome so many obstacles in their relationship, what was a few more with kids?


	3. TOW Emma Turns Two

I don't own **FRIENDS**, just this story. Anything you recognize belongs to Bright, Kaufman and Crane.

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Rachel rolled over in bed and opened her eyes, hoping to see Ross sleeping by her side but he wasn't there. Lifting her head up to see the clock, Rachel saw that it was quarter to six in the morning. She groaned, standing up and putting on a bathrobe. Rachel stepped outside the bedroom and went into the kitchen, where Ross was cutting up fruit and placing it into a bowl of cereal. Emma was sitting in her high chair, waiting patiently for her breakfast.

"Mama!" Emma cried out, clapping her tiny hands together.

"Good morning, sweetie." Rachel smiled at her daughter, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"She woke me up, I think she knows what today is."

"How?" Was the first thing that came out of Rachel's mouth. Emma was still in a crib, she hadn't been moved into a proper bed yet. Rachel had this discussion with Ross a few weeks ago about switching Emma from a crib to a bed, but Ross had been completely against it.

"She climbed out." Ross shook his head, looking at his daughter but Rachel knew he was more worried than angry. Emma could have fallen off the side of the crib and injured herself.

"Emma, sweetie." Rachel walked over to her daughter.

"Yes?" Emma looked up at her mother with innocent blue eyes and Rachel knew she couldn't scold her daughter for climbing out of her crib.

"Do you want a new bed?"

Emma nodded.

"New bed, I's a big girl!"

Rachel placed a hand on Emma gently and looked at Ross, shaking her head. They exchanged knowing looks.

"I can't believe she's two today and she's ready for a real bed." Ross let out a sigh, bringing over the bowl of fruit and cereal to Emma's high chair.

"That reminds me, Phoebe and Mike are getting the cake, right?"

"Yeah, Mike said he ordered a cake from the bakery by their apartment. I'm glad that's taken care of, remember last year's cake?"

"Oh, God, that was a nightmare!" Rachel cried, sitting down at the table and placing her forehead in her hand.

"The whole party was a nightmare."

"Emma's going to remember something from this party, we have to make it the best."

Ross sat down besides Rachel and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Can you believe this, the three of us are a family. About time, huh?"

Rachel looked at Ross, smiling.

"About time." She took his hand and squeezed it affectionately.

"'Cos of the break!" Emma cried, clapping her hands together and giggling. Rachel glared at Ross.

"I can't believe you told her that story, and for the last time, Ross. We were not on a break." Rachel cried a few hours later. The guests were arriving at any minute, but Rachel wanted to resolve this. She thought they had gotten past this ridiculousness.

"Rach, she's not going to remember it when she's older."

"Oh, and you thought it'd actually be ok to tell our daughter about what went wrong in our relationship?"

"Well, no. But come on, Rach, it was a while ago. This was before we were even back together, I really didn't expect Emma to remember that story. You know what, if she does remember it when she's older, I'll tell her the truth."

"The truth?" Rachel crossed her arms, looking at Ross carefully.

"Yes, the truth. The truth about how I was such an overbearing jackass who couldn't let his girlfriend just be happy and freaked out over the smallest things, especially an innocuous friendship she had with a coworker."

Rachel took a step closer to Ross, uncrossing her arms.

"Keep talking."

Ross took a tentative step forward, raising and lowering his arms a few times.

"I will tell Emma how I never got over you and that for seven years, I dreamt of your forgiveness. I dreamt of having you back in my arms, and not just for one drunken night that led to her conception. I missed you, my heart ached every time I saw you with another man. I kept wondering 'Why, why did I screw up?' and there never seemed to be a right time to approach you. We kept slipping further and further apart, and then you got offered that job in Paris." Ross paused, and Rachel was now standing right in front of Ross. He placed his hands on her arms.

"And?"

"I was heartbroken. To think the love of my life and my daughter were going to be so far away. I blew so many chances, and just because of a stupid mistake I made seven years earlier. I couldn't let you go to Paris and begin a new life without me."

Ross lowered his head and placed his lips on Rachel's.

"Oh, Ross." Rachel breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck. Ross wrapped his arms around Rachel's lower back and deepened the kiss. The two began making out, stumbling towards the bedroom, when there was a knock on the door. They pulled away, breathing heavily and looking into each other's eyes.

"That would be the guests, you should check on Emma." Rachel said, clearing her throat and pulling away from Ross.

"Of course." Ross turned and went into Emma's bedroom while Rachel opened the door.

Rachel couldn't believe how smoothly things were going. Mike and Phoebe brought over a chocolate cake, which was covered with creamy frosting and had "Happy 2nd, Emma!" written in pink icing. Monica and Chandler brought the twins over and they were sleeping in Emma's crib while Emma was playing with her toys.

"You all right, Rach?" Ross asked after the friends had fallen silent. Rachel blinked and realized everyone was looking at her.

"Yeah, I was just thinking how great this is. You're all here, we're having a good time, Emma is happy, the cake looks delicious and appropriate for a toddler's party. I couldn't have asked for anything better, this is perfect."

Monica and Chandler exchanged looks and snuggled closer on the couch. Ross took Rachel's hand and squeezed it, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"I don't think it's just today." Phoebe said. "It's like, everything's fallen into place. You and Ross finally got over yourselves, Monica and Chandler have their babies, Joey's finally going to be a star, and I couldn't be any happier than this." She looked at her husband, smiling.

"Yeah, this is crazy, you know? We're in our thirties, we have our own family or we're trying to start a family. You never really think about it until it's here." Mike said, wrapping his arm around Phoebe and pulling her close.

Everyone turned their attention onto Joey, who was trying to figure out how one of Emma's toys worked. After a few minutes, he realized everyone was watching him and looked up.

"What?" He demanded.

"We were just saying how we have a family or we're married and trying to start a family. What about you, Joey? Don't you ever think about settling down, finding the right girl and starting a family with her."

Joey slowly shook his head, shrugging.

"I- I never thought of that, you know? I'm Joey, I don't settle down with just one girl. I don't know, who would want to be with me anyways?"

"Joey," Chandler began, sitting up on the couch. "There's a woman out there, maybe not in New York, who will be right for you and you will be right for her. Don't put yourself down like that, I used to do that; until one crazy drunken night in London. After that, I was happy." He smiled, looking at Monica and gave her a kiss.

"That doesn't mean you're going to be in the perfect relationship, Joey. But you learn something new after each argument or disagreement. I can promise you this: you're going to be a thousand times happier than you are now." Monica continued.

Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, and Mike nodded in agreement.

"Mama, present now?" Emma asked, having abandoned her toys and was now crawling onto Ross' lap.

Rachel and Ross exchanged looks and nodded.

"Sure, let's open presents!"

Emma clapped her hands happily and jumped off her father's lap and ran towards the small pile of presents.

"Did you have a good day today, sweetie?" Rachel asked as she placed Emma in her crib and tucked her in. Emma nodded and yawned, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"Good birthday."

"I'm happy to hear that, good night, Emma."

"Night, Mama." Rachel switched the night light on and left the room, leaving the door open. Recently, Emma began having bad dreams and would freak out if her door was shut, so Ross and Rachel agreed to leave it open during the night. They also agreed on getting a night light, and Emma had been sleeping better.

Ross was sitting up in bed when Rachel entered their room. She disrobed herself and crawled beneath the sheets, cuddling close to him. Ross wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

"Today went perfect." Rachel said quietly, running her hand along his bare chest. "Emma's happy, I'm happy. Couldn't have asked for a better birthday for our daughter."

"I'm happy, and today did go perfectly. I'm just a bit worried, though."

"About what?"

"Emma climbing out of her bed. I don't want her hurting herself."

"We'll look for a bed tomorrow. I can't believe our baby girl needs a bed now."

"I know, she's growing up too fast, Rach." Ross let out a sigh.

"She is, I can't believe she's already two. Two, that seems crazy."

"It does. I meant what I said earlier."

Rachel looked up at Ross, even though she could barely see him in the dark room.

"I know. I love you." It was the first time she had said it in over seven years and actually meant it. She said it to him since their break-up, but it never went further than lust and longing. Now, though, she really meant it. She didn't know what she would do without him, she didn't know why they didn't get over themselves sooner; especially after Emma was born. Emma needed her parents, and this was probably a confusing time for her. If it was, she didn't say anything.

"I love you too, Rach. I've always loved you, I was just an idiot most of the time."

Rachel couldn't help but smile at this comment. It was true, for both of them.

"We both were idiots, Ross. But that's over with, let's just go to bed."

"Good night." Ross placed one last kiss on her lips before resting his head on the pillow.

Rachel had no idea that there was a ring waiting to be given to her, the ring was currently sitting in Ross' jacket where it had been for the past two years. It was the same ring he had been planning on proposing to Rachel with when Emma was born, but of course that didn't work out well. It's only a matter of time before Ross tries to ask the big question again.


End file.
